Seven Days
by metric-electric
Summary: Akane gets hit by a car after a fight with Ranma.Akane now has only seven days to live. Ranma needs to tell her his true feelings before it's too late.Rating for language and some breif and later violence.I ACTUALLY UPDATED!YEAH!
1. Ranma's Tears

Chapter One: Ranma's Tears  
  
That was it. She was just plain sick of it. She pushed the door in front of her with such a force that it almost broke at the hinges. She ran out of the yard and off into the street, away from him.  
  
"Akane! Wait!" Ranma shouted as he ran after her. "Wait, Damnit!" Just then, Shampoo jumped on his back, causing him to fall to the ground onto his stomach. Shampoo straddled her legs on his back, gently massaging his neck and shoulders with her hands. "Shampoo! Get the hell off of me!" He mumbled with his face in the caked dirt.  
  
"Ranma! You silly, Shampoo is giving you nice back rub!" Shampoo exclaimed giddily. Ranma slowly got up, Shampoo still straddling his back. She wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to his shoulders with her hands. "Ooh! Now Ranma give Shampoo fun piggy back ride!"  
  
"Shampoo, get off! I have to go and get Akane!" He struggled as Shampoo's death grip twisted around his neck.  
  
"You no get Akane! Akane is fine by herself! Now, Ranma stay with Shampoo! Maybe have date, ya?" Shampoo asked in her bubbly self. Ranma grunted with the last of his breath and tossed Shampoo off of him. "What is matter Ranma?"  
  
"Look Shampoo. I have to go and get Akane. Shampoo, leave me alone for a while." Ranma told her, his hands resting on her shoulders. With that, Ranma quickly sped away, leaving Shampoo utterly speechless.  
  
"Hmmm... maybe there is way to get Ranma away from Akane." Shampoo smirked evilly. "Maybe even... forever." She giggled and ran off.  
  
Tears flung off of her face and spilled out onto the dirt road. She briefly tripped as she leaped over sidewalks and bushes, heading to nowhere in particular. No one was really around. The streets were empty and the shops seemed to be closed. 'Stupid Ranma! Stupid Shampoo! They can marry and have children and be in love for all I care!' Akane stopped momentarily to catch her breath. "Stupid! STUPID RANMA!" She sifted her fist into an innocent metal bar beside her. The pieces fell as chunks to the ground and crumbled around her feet. She breathed in heavily. "Why do I care?" She pondered the thought for a moment, and then shrugged. 'It's not like I'm really in love with him. Am I?'  
  
"Akane?" Akane spun around to see Ranma chasing after her. She grunted and turned back around fiercely. "Akane!"  
  
"NO! I DEFINATLY DO NOT LOVE HIM!" She headed off again running. Ranma hesitantly stopped.  
  
"What? Did she just..."  
  
Just then as she was about to cross the street, a random car flung into her side, knocking her a few feet away from the area. She glided with the ground, sliding roughly on the rocky surface. The car flew past them, not even noticing that they had just hit a person.  
  
"Akane!? AKANE!" Ranma ran as fast as he could. The wind flung past him, almost knocking him out through his lungs. "Akane!" He collapsed beside her limp body. "Oh God! Akane?" He gently checked the pulse on her neck. 'Good. She's still alive.' He thought. "Akane? Can you hear me?" He stroked her hair with his hands and snuggled her face into his chest. Tears began welding into his eyes. 'Don't cry. Whatever you do, don't let anyone see you cry.' He couldn't hold them in. He had no power over his tears. They flowed freely down his cheeks and dripped silently onto Akane's tender, scratched and bruised skin. "Akane..."  
  
"Ranma?" Akane breathed. She fluttered her eyes open to meet his.  
  
"Akane? You're..." He began, but Akane then coughed hoarsely from under his chin. Akane peered up at him.  
  
"Ranma. You're crying. You're crying for me." She whispered to him. Ranma gazed into her eyes.  
  
"I... ahh... yes..." He confessed, not that he could prove that he wasn't. Akane smiled weakly.  
  
"That..." She went through another coughing fit. "Means so much to me..." She whispered through coughs. Akane's body went limp again as her eye lids covered over her eyes, her lashes gracefully resting at the top of her cheeks.  
  
"Akane?" Ranma whispered to her. "Akane?" He asked a little louder. 'Damnit! She's unconscious.' He figured. 'I gotta get her to the hospital!' He gently picked her up off of the ground, bridal style. Her slender arms rested limply on his chiseled chest, and her legs swung freely with his every step. Ranma walked quickly to the hospital, being sure to keep Akane in safe positions, considering the fact that she might have some broken bones. 


	2. Bad News

Chapter Two: Bad News  
  
Ranma walked inside the hospital room, gazing over at Akane's still unconscious body. Three nurses stood beside her bed, along with Nabiki, Kasumi, Genma, Soun, and Happosai.  
  
"Nurse, how is she?" Ranma asked one of them. The nurse looked sympathetically at him, then turned away.  
  
"I am afraid that the Doctor should be the one to tell you." With that, the nurses walked out of the door.  
  
"But," Ranma began, but gave up. He turned to his family members. "What do you guys know?"  
  
"Ahh... Ranma..." Genma began. "Akane... she..." Ranma rushed over towards him and grasped the collar of his shirt, shaking it back and forth.  
  
"C'mon Pop! Spit it out! Is Akane gonna be okay!?" Ranma was starting to think that Akane might not be all right. "Well?"  
  
"Oh... Ranma..." Kasumi sighed, and held her face in her hands. She began sobbing. Nabiki turned away to glance through the window. She didn't say anything.  
  
"You guys aren't acting like yourselves. This isn't normal." Ranma backed away from them all. That's when the doctor came inside the room. Ranma turned to face him.  
  
"You must be this young girls fiancé. Hello, I'm Doctor Ai." The man held out his hand to Ranma to greet him. Ranma, being confused and hurt, didn't accept his handshake. "Look son, the girl... she..."  
  
"Will someone just tell me what's going on here!?" Ranma shouted. Doctor Ai's expression grew serious and he placed his hands on Ranma's shoulders. "What?"  
  
"The girl may not make it." A shocked look filled in Ranma's eyes as tears rolled down the side of his cheeks. "Do you understand?"  
  
"Of course I understand! I just... Akane can't..." With that, Ranma walked over towards Akane's bed. He kneeled down beside it, gazing at her beautiful features. "Akane can't just leave me." The members in the room gave each other knowing glances before they left Ranma alone in the room with Akane.  
  
Ranma reached up to touch her cheek softly. Her skin was bruised and scratched badly, and her hair tangled in caked dirt. The more he studied her look, the faster and stronger the tears came. He looked away from her, not wanting the pain of the stinging water to continue. That's when he felt another hand pressed to his on her cheek. He turned back to her to see her smiling, grasping his hand.  
  
"Akane, you're..." He began. Akane sighed and locked her eyes with his.  
  
"Ranma. What happened? All I remember is you holding me in your arms, crying." She stated. Ranma searched desperately in her eyes. He couldn't tell her that she might die.  
  
"Ahh... you were hit by that car, and then I carried you here, to the hospital." He told her.  
  
"Oh." Akane looked away from his gaze, peering over at the window. "Will I be okay?" She asked him, still peering out the window. A look of sadness filled in his eyes.  
  
"Umm... we don't know yet." He told her. She looked back at him.  
  
"What's wrong with me?" Akane asked him. Ranma searched the room for any clues, when he found a clipboard with a piece of paper beside him lying on a stool. He reached out and took it in his hand, desperately reading through the notes.  
  
"It says here that you have a few broken ribs and a concussion." He began. A look of pure shock came about his face as he read what it said next. 'Only seven days to live!?' He thought. 'What could be so terribly wrong with her that could make her die so soon!?' He continued to read it, not informing Akane of what it said. 'Misplaced structure of the bones!? Could collapse completely in a minimum amount of seven days!? Jesus, it's a miracle she's living right this moment!' He thought bitterly.  
  
"What's the matter? Why do you look so distraught?" Akane's asked him.  
  
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. I'm just really angry with that car driver. He didn't even stop to apologize." He replied.  
  
"Is that all?" she asked.  
  
"Ahh... yeah." He lied. He just couldn't tell her that she could only live for another seven days at the minimum. He gave her a sorrowful look before he took her hand in his again at the edge of the hospital bed. "Akane... no matter what happens..." He began, but was interrupted when Genma stuck his head through the door of the room. "Pop?"  
  
"Son. Come out here for a minute." Genma told him and gestured to come out through the door with a snap of his head. Ranma nodded and with one last glance at Akane, he followed his father out of the room.  
  
"What pop?" Ranma asked his father once he was outside of the room, closing the door behind him.  
  
"Look boy, Akane probably won't see another day after a week has past." Ranma looked away to the ground. Genma grasped his son's shoulders and shook him to look back at him. "Ranma, you fool! Tell her how you feel! Before it's too late. After a week, you'll never get another chance." Ranma blushed at the fact that his father mentioned how he felt about Akane.  
  
"Pop, it isn't as easy as it seems. Believe me, I've tried telling her that I..." He clamped his hand over his mouth once he realized what he almost let slip.  
  
"That you what, son, love the girl? Yeah, yeah, we all figured it out. It's not like no one had noticed." Genma smiled at his son's stupidity.  
  
"Uhhh, pop!" Ranma started.  
  
"Now, you tell Akane how you feel about her before the end of the week. I'm not forcing you to do it now. I know you'll know when the time is right. Just promise me you'll tell her before it's too late."  
  
"Yes, pop." Ranma agreed. "I promise." Doctor Ai walked up to the two.  
  
"The young girl will be able to go home after a few bandages and shots and whatnot. Probably tomorrow morning I presume." Doctor Ai reassured.  
  
"That's great news, right, Ranma?" Genma asked his son with a strong pat on the back.  
  
"Uhhh... yeah." Ranma sighed. 'Even if that's great news, it still doesn't mean she won't be alive by this time in seven days.' He thought sorrowfully. 


	3. The Obvious

Jami – geeze! It's been soooooooooooooo long since I updated last! I wonder if anyone who had reviewed before is actually gonna continue reading it this time around! I've been so busy with school and with my other fics that I never got a chance to begin writing on this again! Well, this is the third chapter to Seven Days, and it won't be the last!

Sorry this story was on "hiatus" for so long!

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Chapter Three: The Obvious

Day Two – Sunday 

The next day, the Tendo and Saotome family arrived back at their home at the dojo and made sure Akane was able to get some rest by literally dragging her into her room and forcing her to sleep. Once they had completed their task, everyone but Akane retreated downstairs into the family room.

They all sat down in a circle around the table while Kasumi left to go and boil some water for tea. All was quiet, until Soun began weeping.

"Soun…" Genma trailed off, patting his friend's back to try and comfort him.

"Dad…" Nabiki whispered and crawled from her place on the floor over to where her father was. "Daddy!" She cried and tightly wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and began crying maniacally into his chest. Soun hugged her back and rubbed the small of his middle daughter's back.

Ranma just sat there, stunned at the scene before him. He had never seen Nabiki cry before, let alone hug anybody. It made him want to cry again, but he didn't want to make everyone even more upset.

"Soun, I made my son promise me something yesterday." Genma began, trying to change the mood of the group. "I made him promise something to himself… and Akane."

The exhausted Tendo father gazed up wonderingly at his best friend. "And what is that Saotome." He asked, tears rolling down his face.

"Ranma, tell the man." Genma said, turning to his son with a pleading look. Ranma gulped and locked eyes with Soun.

"Ahh… I… when the time is right, I'm going to… ahh…" Ranma could feel the blush reddening on his cheeks and he was growing more nervous by the minute. He peered down at the table, studying it's every wooden carving and wrinkle. "Umm… tell Akane that I…" He gulped again. "That I love her." He finished. He gazed back up at Tendo with an unsure look to find that his mouth was wide open and his eyes were bugged out. Nabiki, well, she didn't look surprised at all.

"I knew it! Finally, you actually admit it." Nabiki stated, wiping the tears from her face, half smiling.

"Admit what, Nabiki?" Kasumi appeared, dressed in her normal outfit and apron, carrying a tray with cups of tea.

"Ranma loves Akane." Nabiki told the obvious with a knowing look. Kasumi smiled happily and set the tray down onto the table.

"Oh, how romantic!" Kasumi sighed dreamily. "I wish that one day I could meet someone who was able to love me." She said and clasped her hands together in front of her chest dramatically, staring off into la la land.

"Maybe you should just call up Dr. Tofu…" Nabiki mumbled incoherently.

Sound cleared his throat. "Well, when will you announce this wonderful, and utmost important information to my youngest daughter, Ranma?" He asked hopefully to his future son in law.

"When the time is right…" Ranma trailed off. With that, he stood up and began to walk out of the room.

"Wait, son, where are you going?" Tendo asked him worriedly.

Ranma turned his head a bit to face them all. "I just gotta go work out for awhile." And with that, he left the room, on his way to the dojo.

Kasumi sighed heavily.

"What's the matter Kasumi?" Nabiki asked.

"I made an extra cup of tea for him for nothing!" Kasumi complained, totally unlike herself.

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As he was walking, Ranma thought about Akane. He thought about all he could have done to prevent that accident from happening. If he just could of gotten Shampoo off of him early enough, then Akane wouldn't be dying right now, and Ranma could have been more ready to tell her that he loved her. He grunted and opened the door to the dojo – only to find Akane clad in her martial arts robe and practicing. He gasped and ran over to her.

"Akane! What are you doing!?" He asked worriedly. Akane didn't even look at him, but kept throwing punches to the invisible enemy in front of her.

"Honestly, can't a girl go and practice without being interrupted all the time!?" She complained to herself.

"Akane! You're supposed to be resting!"

"Who says!?"

"Me!" Ranma ran in front of her and caught one of her punches so quickly that all you could see was a blur of color fly across the room.

"Ranma!" She cried. She began trying to punch and kick him out of the way. And of course, Ranma easily dodged her hits.

"Akane, stop!" He demanded, but Akane kept throwing punches and trying to knock him out with her kicks. "You're going to hurt yourself, stupid!"

"Why should I listen to you!?" Akane asked. Out of nowhere, she began feeling dizzy and her eyes grew heavy and she closed them. She stopped in mid punch and felt herself falling.

She waited for the hard contact with the wooden floor, but it never came. Instead, when she peered up, she met Ranma's eyes and she blushed when she felt that his arms were wrapped tightly around her limp body.

"Idiot…" He whispered. Akane's eyes began watering and she cried into his chest. Ranma decided it was better not to ask why she was crying. Maybe it was because she was exhausted. "Akane, go and get some rest." He told her, smiling at her as she peered up into his eyes.

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Jami – if you like this story so far, and you're an Inuyasha fan as well, I can assure you you'll like some of my other stories too! All of them are Inuyasha except for this one, but don't fret Ranma ½ fans! I shall write more Ranma fics! I even have like, a gabazillion ideas stuck inside my head already! I just gotta get them on paper first! After all, Ranma ½ is my second favorite anime… gee, can ya guess what my first favorite is?

Love ya much,  
jami(piperjanepie)


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